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TREATISE 

ON 

CARE AND DISEASES 

OF 

POULTRY 

(Extracts from The Modern Veterinary Practitioner) 



By W. H. HAYES, V. S. 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 



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in 2011 with funding from 
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DR. W. H. HAYES, V. S. 



TREATISE 



ON 



CARE AND DISEASES 



OF 



POULTRY 



(Extracts from The Modern Veterinary Practitioner) 

By W. H. HAYES, V. S. 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 



: 



Copyright 19 13 
By Dr. W. H. Hayes, V. S. 



► CI.A346414 



Poultry Domestic Fowls 



We here now submit some of our practical experience, of 
which the results have been remuneratory, or of supply- 
ing a profitable recompense. An individual who possesses 
a reasonable allowance of ambition, even though your cap- 
ital perhaps is limited, yet by and through energetically 
devoting similar attention to this branch of industry, 
within three years of time you can be on Easy Street, and 
within ten yours you should have accomplished a suffi- 
ciency to support you comfortably for the remainder of this 
life ; and to leave a sufficient amount for your heirs to liti- 
gate over. 

Breeding". 

The same rules on producing thoroughbreds, which has 
been thoroughly explained in my previous instructions on 
this subject, refer to those. 

How to produce a distinct breed of Buffs: Cross with 
full blood Brahma hens and the Brown Leghorn cockerel. 
If you desire to change the shade or color with any of the 
various breeds : If you wish light, select those of the light- 
est for breeding purposes. To change to darker colors, 
reverse the conditions. In two years' time you will be sur- 
prised at the accomplishments. We sometimes meet with 
conditions where the hens have become so fat and oily that 
the shells are insufficient; with those, reduce the cereal 
supplies and increase the shell food. Be careful not to 
over do this plan, or the eggs will not hatch, unless you 
crack the shell slightly on the twentieth day of its having 
been nested for hatching purposes. Sometimes accidents 
occur and we find broken eggs in the nest. In some cases 
the odor is something fierce (perhaps will cause you to say 
that a sick hen laid those eggs). Carefully remove all 
parts, wash the other eggs in a weak solution of salty 
warm water and return them. If the nest has become so 
filthy that it is real strong, remove it also. Prepare a 



warm, new nest; place one or two other eggs in the new 
nest; permit the hen the work of fixing the nest. While 
she is doing this business be careful to retain a warmth of 
about one hundred and five degrees, Fahrenheit, or a few 
degrees above that of the human body; now remove the 
fresh eggs and place the others in the nest as soon as 
convenient. In these modern times we resort to various 
modes for the hatching purposes. Not wishing to change 
the subject too abruptly — but will you permit me? I refer 
you to the act of the Apostles, Acts Five, one to twelve, 
inclusive; but the conditions of which we shall now men- 
tion are quite different. At Dumont, Iowa, I have a bro- 
ther-in-law,, the Squire, a Mr. Melvin S. Needham, who in 
the month of June, 1872, made an outing trip from Dumont 
to Storm Lake, Iowa. While the party were in camp on the 
bank at Storm Lake, some of the boys found a wild goose 
on duty on a nest of eggs. She, the goose, had too much 
wing for the other fellow, but the magistrate appropriated 
the eggs and kindly and carefully placed them in his 
bosom, as the party were ready to break camp and start 
for home, the Squire hoping and praying that the eggs 
and himself would keep warm until they reached home. 
His petition was granted; but before they reached their 
destination most of the Bi-pennate were hatched and were 
ready for the boys to divvy rations with them; since that 
time the Squire has shed most of his hair and some of us 
expect to see a crop of feathers replace it; but up to the 
present writing only a few pin feathers are discernable 
about the shoulder blades. A part of this is parable, but 
the hatching statement is an honest truth. With eggs 
which are hatchable and subjected to a temperature of 
from about one hundred and four to one hundred and 
seven, Fahrenheit, whether in the original way of nature 
or by artificial means. I shall call your attention to the 
various leading methods of artificial hatching; the various 
plans are well worthy of thought and the means are reli- 
able and profitable. It is advisable to start the first year 
on a small scale, then as you become more familiar with 
the business increase as your desire prompts you; by 
adopting this method you will be certain to succeed. 

For the general purpose in our experience, the Black 
Minorca rooster and the Black Spanish hen produce a 



gratifying inducement. To be successful in this business, 
cleanly surroundings, dry air, a good roof with proper 
ventilation, and a reasonable amount of windows, on the 
sunny side of the building, will amazingly augment the 
profits; also these hygienic methods aid in maintaining 
healthful conditions. If this plan of procedure is method- 
ically adhered to by, and through this means, if we were 
to locate two men of about equal intelligence, ambition 
and tact, the one on a ten-acre chicken ranch, the other 
on a hundred and sixty-acre farm, allow the poultry man 
about one-third the amount of capital of that which will 
be needful or requisite for the farmer, at the expiration of 
ten years investigate the financial results, including the 
bank accounts, also the worthless and worn out machinery 
on the farm, for which a junk Sheeny, perhaps partly out 
of sympathy, would be willing to haul it away, that by so 
doing it would perhaps be a means of prevention of acci- 
dents to the stock or to the children, the farmer's wife, the 
farmer or his friends, bargain, "Yes, Ih gipp you gash 
dirdy-vife zendz, gash fun to vole peexness, dos been 
blendy, voss say, duh." "Well, Jacob, 1 suppose that we 
had best call it a bargain; of course, that outfit cost me 
well onto two thousand dollars, but wife has been insist- 
ing that we, in some way, have it gotten out of the way as 
several of our animals have already been injured on some 
of those rusty irons, and had it not been that we were 
so fortunate as to have in the house a bottle of the Dr. 
Hayes Anti Ferri Virus Liniment, I am confident that mat- 
ters would have become more serious. Say, Jake, come 
in and take dinner with us; the boys and I will help you 
to finish loading this afternoon; glad you came along." 

How different we find conditions with the poultry family 
and their ranch — no worn out machinery. The birds 
should all be sold before they arrive at the conditions of 
senile decay; birds which are plump and fat are always in 
good demand at a fair price. If you follow my plan you 
can fatten the birds surprisingly soon, keep the floor well 
swept, darken the apartment, or shade them so that they 
have barely a sufficient allowance of light to partly guess 
their way about; with poultry, as well as with all the do- 
mestic animals, by pursuing this plan or method we can 
save about one-half of the expense in preparing them for 



market, or for slaughter. This plan once tried will never 
be denied. 

It is now no experiment on my part, as I have tested its 
efficiency. If you will test this method, you will know 
what to say for it, also with the hairy domestic ainmals. 
If, in fly time, we derive benefits in various ways, the ven- 
tilator should be in the cone or highest part of the roof. 
The fowl guano should be swept and shoveled out on an 
outside floor; a good cheap plan to roof it over, and pro- 
tect it from the sun, dew and rain. When thinly spread 
over the field the next year and succeeding seasons, you 
will derive gratifying and profitable benefits in the extra 
yield of crops; after having spread the guano, it is advisa- 




THE GOLDEN POLAND CHINAS 

ble to harrow that part of the field as soon as convenient. 
If the surface is considerably packed or crushed over, a 
good plan is to run a cultivator over it, then harrow. 

The question is sometime asked, "How many hens 
should be allowed for each rooster?" While an approxi- 
mate answer, or to some extent, at least, a hypothesis re- 
ply can be given: with game cocks, about twenty, while 
with the large weighty birds, from ten to twelve would be 
advisable. Comparison: a customer once asked me how 
long a cow's tail should be. My answer: "About long 
enough to reach from where it is attached to the body to 
within a few inches of her heels." 



Hatching- or Incubation. 

Anthropology, the science of man, need have no boundry 
lines. An Irishman was standing on the pavement in 
front of a hardware store interviewing a stack of nicely 
finished incubators. He said to one of the clerks: "Frind, 
plase till me phat are these quare looking things fir?" 
"Yes," the clerk replied, "those are incubators." Patsy 
said, "Yes, I suppose so, but can yes bate anything wid 
them?" Clerk: "Why, my dear sir, those are one of the 
best inventions of the last several decades as you can see 
here. We can place several hundred eggs in those apart- 
ments. We then secure our warmth through those 
vacuums, so you will understand one of those fixtures is 
capable of doing the services of which would require quite 
a flock of hens, and the hens can be on other duties of 
which the incubator would be a failure." 

Average incubative period: 

Chicks 21 days 

Geese 31 

Ducks 29 

Turkeys 28 

Guinea fowls 28 

Pheasants 25 

Ostrich 41 

Regarding the plan for the poultry rooms, you should 
know how you want those. If you can have an earth floor 
most of it should be covered with chaff or straw, or screen- 
ings, to be replaced with fresh, clean material as condi- 
tions require. We have obtained best results by placing 
boards on the smooth earth; we mix sand, gravel, ashes, 
lime and shells in one place where the sun will have a 
chance to shine through the large windows, which should 
be on the south and south-east of their house. 

For ventilation and sky-light, a cheap and convenient 
method, which also prevents an unreasonable amount of 
draft: Prepare the desired number of windows to be 
placed on the roof, near the cone; we make a frame, fit it 
snugly in the roof, prepare it so that the window will fit 
in snugly; attach hinges on the upper part, now fasten 
a ring, staple, or hook on the under side. Attach a small 

9 



rope or cord to this; by this means you secure a control 
of ventilation; also if they are placed on the south half 
of the roof, this plan will admit of more sunlight, and when 
raised, if only a few inches, this plan will admit the es- 
cape of foul gases, gas being lighter than air, it will escape 
quickly. 

Dry, warm apartments, well ventilated, with a good 
supply of windows, a dry comfortable floor with no draft 
under it will be a means of prevention of diseases, a saving 
on feed; also the birds will thrive much better, and the 
hens will very soon well repay you for your duties well 
done. But never permit of a low direct draft to punish 
your birds. With this kind of a structure, if the walls 
are what they should be, the hens, if properly supplied 
with fresh water and the proper kind of feed, will lay about 
as well during winter as in summer months. We do know 
that fresh ranch eggs never fail to be in good demand at 
a nice price here on the Pacific. During Fall and Winter 
months we depend largely on storage of Eastern eggs, 
which have been shipped here; they retail here at thirty- 
five cents per dozen, and we consider that if one-third of 
them are usable we think we have struck it lucky. During 
our recent holidays, I purchased a supply in the hope that 
they would aid us in faring sumptuously, but, alas, I 
started to go through the kitchen at about the noon hour 
and one of our helpers had accidently dropped a pan on 
the hot stove; in this pan my boss said that "these were 
only six or seven Eastern eggs." I found the kitchen 
deserted, the doors and windows opened wide; but friends, 
permit me to remark, please be generous on expanding 
your imagination. Words fail me to explain on paper 
the fierceness of that odor. The fumes were something 
surprising, a sufficiency for at least fifty persons, but I had 
it all to myself. One of our party hallooed from an adjoin- 
ing room: "Doctor, isn't thar sothin' ye can pout on the 
sthove that will make it smil bether?" "Yes, Bridget, you 
get some limburger cheese." "Och, ye git out, ye mane 
devil." "Never mind, Bridget, there is a man here that's* 
gone." Later in the day I returned home. My friends 
asked me what I thought about it. I answered: "If those 
Eastern hens were not sick, they expected to be soon." 

While the poultry industry, at first thought, perhaps, 

10 



would have the semblance of a minute feathery endeavor; 
yet the fact remains just about the same, that with a small 
capital, in this industry, any man, woman or child, who is 
physically able, and possessed with a reasonable amount of 
intelligence, industry and economy of which it has been 
said (it is the road to wealth), in this industry. A person 
can consistently make the start with five dollars, and by at- 
tending strictly to business, in the space of three years one 
would be favorably surprised at the thousands of birds and 
the daily cash income, of which it is possible for one to 
have at their command. 

The first consideration in reason and propriety should 
be to prepare suitable apartments for their comfort and 
healthfulness. This method will not only be pleasant to 
your thoughts, but will result advantageously at headquar- 
ters. We believe that we have quite well covered the 
thought for the minimum. 

The universal law of cause and effect will be applicable 
at this juncture: 

Hatching and raising with a man-made mother. 
This accomplishment or attainment, of obtaining profit- 
able results, with a reasonable allowance of intelligence 
and some experimental practice we can accomplish profit- 
able results. Stay by it, you will win, proceed with a de- 
termination of (know no defeat), there is always room at 
the top for this class of individuals. 

I deem it to be advisable, if you are not a practical 
chicken man, to start in on a small way. Select pure 
bloods, even though some breeds are quite expensive; but 
bear in mind that very soon you will own high price birds 
and they are almost invariably in good demand, at a nice 
price. Place yourself on record as being the owner of as 
good birds as the other fellow owns. If we start right, 
the mistakes will be of rare occurrence, and the results ma- 
terially more meritorious, costs less for feed for good stock 
than it does to care for scrubs and the dunghills. Also, 
you will feel less like sneaking out of sight when friends 
call to view your outfit. The best quality of individuals 
are almost invariably interested in good blood, regardless 
•of where it is. Establish the reputation of owning as good 
as the best, and then if you are favorably constructed with 
character your amiable ambition will aid your efforts; it 

11 



is profitable to endeavor to obtain this accomplishment. 
Reputation is that element of which the people think we 
are, while character can be seen only by omnipotence. 

The Honorable Professor Keen of Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, U. S. A., writes: "My first experiment in hatch- 
ing by artificial means was with eccalobeon, about four 
feet long, two feet high and two feet deep, two feet square, 
placed near to one end; the drawers encompasssd with 
a sheet of water three inches, connecting with a large bed, 




WHITE DORKINGS 

two feet square each way, through which an iron stove 
pipe passed to heat the water. In the top drawer are 
two openings, one front and one back, with valves, con- 
nected by a small iron shaft; in the front valve there is 
inserted a glass tube with a bulb at each end, nearly filled 
with mercury, so regulated that when to warm or cool, 
the mercury will expand or contract, throwing the weight 
from one end of the valve to the other, opening or closing 
the valve, as required. This self-regulator of the heat in 



12 



the drawers removes the necssity of so close attention to 
the heat. 

"I hatched eggs that had been partly under the hen and 
produced the chickens from the first warming of the eggs, 
up to the eighteenth day. Then the tin case sprang a leak 
and all the water ran out, but I had sufficient evidence that 
the eggs would have hatched, had the case been made of 
copper, perfectly tight. I then had recourse to bricks 
piled around the stove in place of the water. I found the 
heated air would pass around the stove as well as the 
water and kept up a uniform heat, that would have hatched 
eggs equally well but attended with more personal care, 
which led me to experiment with the accumulations in the 
horse barn as a means of generating heat, which has re- 
sulted in perfect success in producing fine healthy chickens 
in twenty-one days from the commencement of their 
heating. This mode will be useful to the farmers, as 
they have the material at hand and the only cost attend- 
ing it would be a little labor to accomplish the hatching 
of eggs to any desired extent. This mamel (to use the 
Egyptian name) I will now give a minute's description that 
every farmer may build one for himself and be able to 
perfect the hatching of eggs and rearing of chickens with- 
out the aid of a hen. It is a building thirteen feet by six- 
teen, with a tight-grooved partition dividing it into two 
apartments, the front one seven feet, the other nine feet; 
in this partition are two openings to receive the front 
ends of the ovens. These ovens are six and a half feet 
long, two feet, two inches wide, nineteen inches high on 
one end, and eighteen on the other, in the clear back end 
closed and made entirely inch boards; lined with two solid, 
water-tight with shutters in two equal parts, hung to the 
bottom and in the middle with hinges, and buttons to 
close the front end; in the upper part of the shutter there 
are two sliding valves, each four inches by six, to give 
air and regulate the heat, the outside of the ovens and 
the partitions should be well coated over with pitch. To 
exclude moisture and prevent the wood from decay, the 
ovens should be placed eighteen inches above the ground, 
supported with posts at the back end and four feet apart, 
with an open board partition, the boards running up and 
down ten inches apart, to divide the manure between the 

13 



ovens and yet not entirely separate, so, that in renewing 
the manure of one oven the other may not be chilled. 
There should be a window in the back to give air and 
receive the manure through. The manure should be such 
as is made in well littered horse stables, and use straw and 
manure mixed and well watered, while being thrown in a 
pile where it is to remain twenty-four hours to soak and 
permit the redundant water to pass off. It should be placed 
loosely around the ovens, which will not. require renewing 
for two weeks, then only renew half the length of the 
oven at a time, judging from the heat when more of it is 
to be renewed, which will be required about every week. 
Tan will make a better bed under the oven than manure, 
the heat will last longer. The egg box, four feet long, two 
feet wide, three inches deep, lined with braize, ten inches 
of one end covered with wire to keep the chickens that 
are just hatched; the other part of the box should have a 
light frame with twine passed between the eggs and at- 
tached to the frame to turn all the eggs at one time. The 
egg box turns on a center to reverse the ends in the oven; 
the carriage is made in two parts, the lower part has sash 
pullies let into it to roll on the rails, the upper part is 
connected with the lower, with four small bars of iron 
about eighteen inches long with holes for a wooden screw 
in each end, the screws put into the top and bottom 
when they lie together (which moves like a parallel ruler) 
and confined to different heights by a hook about ten 
inches long, fast to the upper part and hooking into staples 
driven into a piece of wood running along and fastened 
to the lower part. This arrangement is to sustain the egg 
box at different heights, to suit the required degree of heat, 
which I have found to be as near as it can be kept to one 
hundred and four degrees, from the first to the last stage 
of successful hatching. My feed room can be made per- 
fectly dark through one of the doors in a hole one and 
one-fourth inches in diameter, over which is a piece of 
cloth tacked (an inch hole in it) that will exclude all the 
light except what passes through it, where can be seen 
the first progress of the chickens and in four days, if there 
is no appearance of a chicken, boil it for the young brood. 

"Next in order is the rearing of the chickens without 
the aid of a mother. In the basement of the first named 

14 



building on a level with the top of the eccalobeon is a 
platform four feet by seven, with a slide to open in fine 
weather into a small yard; also one to open into a box with 
wire front (over the eccalobeon) which is moderately 
heated from a small stove; in this box is an artificial 
mother, made of rabbit skins (I have one also made of 
the skins of fowls), hung about two inches from the bot- 
tom, where the chicks are first placed. In three or four 
days they are let into an adjoining apartment, where there 
is a skeep skin mother; over this is another with one end 
raised higher than the other for chickens further advanced 
to run under, with a small yard attached. In the glass 
building is a platform sixteen feet by four, about four feet 
above the ground floor for chickens still further advanced 
with a yard to it; they are next shut out from this apart- 
ment and run with the full grown fowls. All of these 
apartments will accommodate about five hundred chickens 
of the different ages. 

"This mode of hatching and rearing them is attended 
with less than half the loss that usually takes place, when 
hatched and reared by the hen. 

"With regard to the feed for the first two or three meals, 
I give grated stale wheat bread, laid on a sandal floor, next 
I give bread, boiled in milk, and while hot, mix coarse 
ground Indian meal with it, make it nearly dry. For the 
older fowls I give wheat screenings and whole corn, with 
once a week boiled meat. It will here be seen that I have 
made the management of eggs as plain and simple as Capt. 
Cook did, when 'he stook one on its point.' 
"Yours most respectfully, 

"JOSEPH S. KEEN." 

I have given you the Professor's delineation verbatim. 
With many of our ranchers and farmers, especially in the 
rural districts, the plan is certainly meritorious; you read- 
ily discover that with almost a costless fixture you can so 
arrange as to have young birds hatched every day in the 
month, if you so desire. In Northwest Washington, also in 
many other localities of which the author could mention, 
cedar shakes and all of the other wood part of a good-size 
building could be prepared from one tree, so that the small 
bill for hardware and a small amount of labor would cover 

15 



the expense for an all money-making enterprise. With 
this kind of a building it will last to be as old as a man. 

Also I possess some old copies of the London Times, in 
which since 1857 I have been materially interested with its 
description of the Bromely boys. 

They started their poultry industry on a limited capital, 
now they are worth thousands of pounds. The last winter I 
was down in Iowa we had a very deep fall of snow, which 




drifted and banked in the regulation way in those windy 
prairie States. A friend and myself started to go out in 
another part of the city; we saw a boy of about ten years 
who was very busy working in a fifteen foot snow bank 
and was using a stove shovel and his hand sled. My friend 
asked him how he expected to remove so large a bank of 
snow. "By keeping at it, sir." Let us endeavor to profit by 
•his plan. If we do this, victory will be ours; we will be 



1(5 



sure winners. The Bromely has since been renamed, now 
know nas the London Home for Poultry and Pigs. Those 
began in their industry with less than ten pounds. In 1913 
they are wealthy men. 

I shall now refer to the description of which the London 
Times published in July 1889: "We recently called at the 
Bromely home; we were awe-stricken and astounded, 
amazed at the marvel accomplishments. Admiration, ap- 
probation, approval, appropriate. Eight hundred cockerels 
and hens enjoy the comforts of a model prison without the 
disadvantage of compulsory silence or solitary confine- 
ment. Their cells are light, airy and comfortable, their 
dietry liberal and varied, the temperature of the abode is 
regulated on approved scientific principles, and the gentle- 
men who have made the character and temperament of 
fowls their especial study, look after their comfort and 
minister to their wants. The House: The section of the 
house now in active work consists of an airy, glass covered 
house, three hundred feet long, twelve by three feet and 
these pens are sub-divided again into roosting and laying 
compartments and glass covered runs, where exercise may 
be taken in wet weather. The general effect of this home, 
which will be multiplied by six in a few months, is very 
striking. Its central floor is of red tiling, with shafts to 
admit cold air in summer and hot in winter. A regular 
register of temperature being kept at each side of this and 
running along the pens are symmetrical little beds of mus- 
tard and cresses for the young chickens, whose compart- 
ments are on a second tier and at short intervals a vine 
plant of choice quality, springs gracefully up to eventually 
join tendrils with its opposite neighbor in the glass roof 
above. The covered mess box looking like seats where- 
upon the rare plumage and vast proportion of the birds 
may be critically viewed. Also certain nests for egg laying 
are so arranged that the most sensitive hens may pass to 
and from them without any annoyance. 

"The nests are wooden bowls piled with clean hay and 
plentifully sprinkled with fine sand. In order that the 
poultry may be kept warm on cold nights, the roosting 
perches are composed of hot water pipes, a circumstance 
which is said to induce the constant laying of eggs. The 
perfect ventilation and scrupulous cleanliness of the home 

17 



are very marked and the happy, well-fed look of the fowls 
and the way in which their necessary wants are fore- 
stalled, combined with the exact similarity of their several 
cells, gives the model prison simplicity, strength and force 
as the visitor progresses down the long house. 

How and What They Are Fed. 

"The principle on which these fortunate creatures are 
fed is to have certain essential dishes prepared and given 
them every day, while other viands are varied through the 
week; thus an animal food is necessary. 

"Contracts have been entered into for horses, upon the 
veterinary surgeon of the company giving his certificate 
that the horse submitted to him is fit for consumption. 
The contract price of two pounds is paid and the animal 
boiled down, the carcass is then finely minced and a por- 
tion given each day to the fowls. Pigs are also to be 
kept in order that nothing may be wasted, the liquor in 
which the horse has been will be given to the porkers 
as soup and the dietary will then run somewhat after 
this fashion: Cabbage, green food, and horse flesh twice 
every day; Sunday, cross-grained barley; Monday, Indian 
corn; Tuesday, oats; Wednesday, boiled potatoes; Thurs- 
day, boiled rice; Friday mangel wurzel; Saturday, mixed 
grain; add to this a handful of grit, sand is sprinkled in 
the food to promote digestion; then sulphate of iron is 
put into the drinking water, and charcoal twice a week; 
and it will be seen that our high estimate of the com- 
forts enjoyed by those cockerels and hens are not over- 
charged. The floor of each inner pen is covered with 
sifted soil some inches deep, while the outer one has a 
plentiful supply of stable manure, each material being 
carefully turned with the spade twice a week. 

Fattening Hens. 

"One of the proprietors called my attention to the 
fattening devise. At the end of the long living room is 
the fattening department, a dark chamber with small 
boxes three feet long, in which fowls are to be placed and 
fed, at each side of this is a hatching chamber, similarly 
fitted up, where many hens are always sitting. Beyond 
this again is the yard, which is rapidly converted to the 

18 



use of the company. When the entire place is in working- 
order, artificial hatching rooms, with concrete floors, 
movable glazed sides and slate or felted roof, will be seen 
in active operation. The interior of these rooms will be 
fitted with movable shelves, divided into compartments 
by galvanized iron, each compartment having a frame 
work of what is called artificial mother. A section of 
soft and fleecy carriage rug pendant from a strip of wood 
and giving warmth and shelter to the fledlmgb nxakes tlie 
mother, many specimens of which are now to be seen about 
the home. The chickens are placed in these compartments 
from their birth until they are a week or ten days old, 
when they are moved to the rearing home. As soon as 
the head is covered with feathers they are pronounced 
hardy and fit for the ordinary vicissitudes of adult fowl 
life. 

"The Company periodically issue pamphlets on their 
best known methods for the management of this industry 
and any new discoveries which are worth the mention- 
ing, they gladly make it public at the earliest practical 
opportunity. 

"In one of their recent periodicals they say the func- 
tions of a hen towards her chickens consists in forming 
a covering to prevent the natural heat of their unfledged 
bodies from cooling; also in breaking into small pieces the 
food that is too large for them, and lastly to protect them 
from danger. Now, by artificial means they not only do 
this but they perform the duties a great deal better and 
with less casualties to the chickens." 

By permission I quote from Dr. Navin. He says: 
"Most writers on poultry do not believe in hatching or 
rearing, yet they might as well doubt growing tropical 
fruits and plants in England. Chickens do neither re- 
quire artificial heat nor that of their mother; all that is 
necessary until full fledged is to provide them with suita- 
ble covering for their bodies to preserve their natural 
heat, the same as with infants during cold weather. 
However, their homes must be warmed the same as for 
full-grown poultry and then a good ventilation, without a 
draft, a dry floor, sunlight, and a small run and artificial 
mothers to sleep under. The run house consists of sunk 
passages lined with brick walls and with a concrete floor, 

19 



heated with hot water pipes and roofed with felt. This 
house has a glass covered run, the concrete floor of which 
is covered with gritty dust. The advantages of the entire 
system of breeding adopted for the Bromley House are 
officially summarized thus: Slow feeding allows weak 
fowls to get sufficient food, which they cannot when a 
great number are feeding together. The food can be sup- 




PLYMOUTH ROCKS 

plied in the required quantity and quality to each brood 
or class, as it must be evident that breeding and laying 
stock requires a different diet from chickens and poultry 
intended for the market, each cockerel having only a cer- 
tain number of hens allotted to him, they are served 
better. 

"In this means of collecting and profitably using Mie 
poultry manure, the constant renewal of the ground will 



20 



prevent its getting tainted with the fowl's droppings. The 
temperature is kept equal and cold and dampness pre- 
vented, preventing disease from exposure, cold, wet, and 
contagion; economy in food, as poultry will eat much less 
when warmly housed and deprived of running about; keep- 
ing breeds and sexes separate, enabling precise statistics 
as to the comparative productiveness of the various 
breeds and also in ascertaining what hens have ceased to 
lay; the early detention of hens wanting to set; obtaining 
a larger number of eggs and in a season when most scarce. 
A genial temperature will induce hens to set, notwith- 
standing cold weather. This system, however, like all 
new systems, must be extended gradually, as old birds 
which have been accustomed to roaming about will fret 
and lose appearance the first few months; but the young 
that are fed and reared on this system will thrive better 
and at much less expense for food than under the pres- 
ent mode. Another remarkable thing about this curious 
and interesting establishment, is the perfect reciprocity it 
is intended to maintain between the animal and the vege- 
table kingdoms. The land on which the six long bouses 
will be open and in active operation in a few months, will 
supply the green feed for the poultry, besides sending a 
large surplus to covert garden markets. 

"The manure from the poultry will go to enrich the 
grounds, the hides, bones and hoofs of the boiled horse, 
which has been used to feed the pigs and chickens, is to 
sell for the two pounds which its carcass cost, while the 
twenty-two yards belonging to the six houses will held 
from thirty thousand to forty thousand head of poultry. 
Each yard will have two divisions, one of which will be 
devoted to young chickens and other to the young cock- 
erels; though from the very spirited mien we saw im- 
provised by two young Brahma Busters, who were in the 
same pen, it seems probable that the latter class may give 
vent to occasional bursts of pugnacity. In the center of 
each yard is also a tank for ducks. 

"Some idea of the scale upon which it is expected to 
carry on the operations of the company will be gathered 
from the fact that four thousand eggs will shortly be in 
process of incubation at one time. From the present 
stock of eight hundred cockerels and hens the average 

21 



weight of cockerels and chickens, after they have been 
fattened, is put at six pounds, and though the present 
selling price is to be five shillings each it is sanguinely 
hoped, that by the rapid multiplication of the home and 
the consequent increase in numbers of the fowls bred, 
they will shortly be sold by the pound like butchers' meat 
and at a rate not higher than four pence per pound. 

"That the Bromley will enjoy exceptional facilities for 
producing poultry and that their efforts must in time 
affect prices, seems obvious. A large proportion of their 
breeds are fancy ones where the chickens of these prom- 
ise fair development or unusual beauty; they will be kept 
for poultry breeders and will readily command from five 
to twenty guineas (twenty-five to one hundred dollars) 
each. The commonplace offsprings of the same parents 
will be fattened and killed, so the race will be purified and 
improved year by year. 

"While the value of chickens of the same breed liberally 
varies from one dollar and twenty-five cents to many 
guineas of twenty-one shillings each. In a few months 
from the present time when a floating stock of one hun- 
dred thousand salable chickens are constantly on hand, 
and when the six large houses and twenty-two yards are in 
full working order, we shall be able to pronounce more 
decidedly upon the practical bearings of the scheme. 
Meanwhile it is impossible to avoid admiring the organiza- 
tion of the home now open, as it is to withhold sympathy 
from a project which, in these days of high prices and 
scarcity, aims of placing within the reach of the very poor 
man an article of food, at present to be seen only on the 
table of the well-to-do." 

The above, although by far the largest, is but one of 
the establishments of that kind that have been success- 
fully operated in Europe, and although several attempts 
at the system have failed, for want of experience and cau- 
tion, in this country it is more favorable to the enterprise 
than any other country on earth. 

The author feels confident that not many years hence, 
this system of hatching and raising poultry will be ex- 
tensively practiced in this country. 



Chicken Feed. 

To me it appears reasonable that the Bromley syndicate 
have sounded the key-note in an intelligent, practical 
method, while perhaps not all of us can be persuaded 
or convinced of the necessity of following in detail the 
verbatim plans and principles, of which they have pursued. 
If you have, you are entitled to registry as a thorough- 
bred, for they have been winners from the start to the 
present day, but each of us who are possessed with a 
reasonable allowance of nosology are in great luck. I 
claim this prerogative, barring the fact that my home has 
been on the Pacific Coast since '91. In America, South, 
North, and the British possessions, the Indian corn, 
broom corn, also sorghum seed, usually constitute their 
food. We will find it to be more profitable, to some extent 
at least, to follow the Bromley plan on feeding birds. 
We have obtained the best results by using cracked, rolled 
or soaked cereals of whichever kind. The vegetable feed 
should be hashed, cooked, or steamed; the leaves of the 
sunflower and seeds are also feed for chickens. The 
quantity which can be raised on a small piece of rich soil 
is something surprising, if the caps are reasonably well 
dried and ricked up in a cool, well ventilated apartment; 
rick with stem down. The lower tiers should K e laid on 
narrow strips, permitting the air current to pass between 
the floor and tiers. The floor should be one or two feet up 
from the ground, permitting a free draft. We can feed 
with those seeds almost every day through the year. If 
you try this plan you will then know what to say to your 
friends regarding results. For those which you desire 
to fatten quick, try alternately cracked corn, cracked 
wheat or buckwheat. They will plump out more rapidly 
if you cook or soak all the feed and confine them in a well 
ventilated, darkened room. Supply fresh, clean water 
every day. By devoting this attention, within three weeks' 
space, they will be in good fix for the market. Cracked 
rye or barley makes a very good substantial substitute, also 
add a small allowance of ground pepper to the feed. If 
the digestion becomes inactive add some ground shells or 
sand to be mixed with the wet warm feed. Do not permit 
them to roam about if you wish to expedite matters; also 
supply them cooked fresh meat or fish three or four meals 

23 




24 



a week; add some ground pepper, horseradish or mustard, 
the green leaves will be alright. Two or three meals a 
week of cooked carrots or potatoes will be of benefit. In 
the absence of those, some of the other vegetables would 
chink in for a substitute. Mustard tops or horseradish 
leaves, if thrown in the enclosure will be of vital benefit. 
Under any circumstances also be sure that they are sup- 
plied with fresh water every day. 

Poultry should never be fed with anything of a saline 
or salty nature. I have been called to examine poultry 
where we have known them to be in a pitiable condition. 
They are carnivora as well as scavengers. I now have a 
call in mind of where one of my customers had dumped out 
a barrel of spoiled corned beef (chickens crave meat to 
eat). They made a raid on the decomposed beef, which 
had been thoroughly salted. After several scores of them 
had died my friend 'phoned me to call as soon as possible. 
I made a night trip to the ranch and when he informed 
me of the loss, we concluded to await for daylight. In the 
morning I dissected several of the dead birds and we 
killed a few which were partly alive. In each bird I found 
evidence of chloride of sodium; the farmer was certain 
that I was mistaken. He is a powerful, muscular, brawny 
tiller of the soil; but I nerved up and meekly said to him, 
"Possibly one of us is mistaken," and at once hurried away 
from him, and as I was rushing around the corner of the 
hog house stumbled over this mound of strong beef. I in- 
stantly realized the sensation that harmony would soon 
reign on that ranch. About this time his good wife ap- 
peared on the scene with alligator tears on her cheeks as 
she said she feared that they would lose all of their poultry 
and that she had been so in hopes of saving enough of 
them to buy some things for the children. I informed her 
that if they would bury or burn that mould of salty beef 
and do the same with scores of decomposing fowls that the 
surroundings would be of greater value for domestic pur- 
poses; also to prepare a slumgullion of flaxseed, one gal- 
lon; red peppers, half pound; water, six gallons; hog's 
lard, two pounds; air-slacked lime, two pounds; fine, 
gritty sand, two pounds, simmer to a jell, stir until have 
accomplished a sameness; when cold allow all that they 
desire to eat. We accomplished a cure. We had another 

25 



similar experience with turkeys, geese and ducks, from 
feasting on spoiled salty salmon, recommended the same 
treatment, obtained good results. 

Almost any of the fowl family will eat enough salt to 
kill if they can have some meat or fish along with it. 

Cholera. 

Treatment for poultry: Proportions: Five pounds 
corn starch, two pounds corn meal, half pound black pep- 
per (ground), water, two gallons; cook and stir to same- 
ness; when cool give all a sufficiency. Be sure to begin 
early treatment; insist on cleanly surroundings. If di- 
gestion is seriously impaired, feed on flaxseed jell and 
black pepper (ground) and thoroughly mixed. This is 
best to warm it to about blood heat; for young birds pre- 
pare corn starch and pepsin and you will soon adjust con- 
ditions. 

Dysentery in Young- Birds. 

Prepare an infusion of any of the berry bushes or leaves 
or roots of oak bark; in the absence of these roast some 
wheat flour in the stove oven, mix one tablespoonful of 
ground black pepper to a pint of brown flour, mix while 
yet warm. Allow about half rations, repeat every three 
hours. If the lower back feathers become filthy clip them 
with scissors and apply oil or grease about those parts; 
this means will prevent angry, irritating difficulties. 
Those which are critically ill should be separated from 
the other birds and confined in a darkened room for a few 
days. If some of them die, bury them or burn them at 
the first opportunity. Also scatter some lime or copperas 
or sulphur. Scatter sawdust or dry sand over the floor; 
also be sure that they get the benefit of pure air in dry 
apartments. 

For young chickens, their feed, care and management, 
with some people, both ladies and gentlemen, I prefer 
giving this advice at long range or over the telephone. I 
had some recent experiences along these lines at long 
range, in safety. After the feminine and I had enjoyed 
a heart-to-heart conversation, and she, the feminine, 
asked me if I thought that she was getting a dad-gasted 
sight more goosier yearly, I kindly answered in the nega- 
tive, but made use of some of the words which we fail to 

26 



find in the code of ethics. I most emphatically asked of 
her to not stand quite so close to the 'phone, as it appeared 
to me that her breakfast had consisted of brimstone cuss- 
words, limburger cheese and onions, and that the com- 
bination produced a hardship on the then existing condi- 
tions. 

Pepsin. 

As the pharmaceutical preparations of pepsin cost away 
up in "Z," we can prepare a home accomplishment which 
will fill the bill to perfection, and we shall have a costless 
preparation which will equal the druggist's best and in 
many cases, excel. 

Prepare by securing the first stomach of a calf. A calf is 
best, but that of any ruminant will do very well, a pig next; 
clean and wash the specimen thoroughly, then stew for 
the space of thirty minutes; when cool enough for ma- 
nipulation, peel the inner lining, wash thoroughly in a 
weak solution of alum and saleratus water, squeeze as dry 
as possible, then pass the fleece several times through a 
clothes wringer, dry thoroughly and grind or pulverize to 
a fine powder, place in a bottle and cork tightly and you 
have a reliable promoter for digestion, also a safe astring- 
ent. A very small allowance will do the business. Next 
best is Ligni carbo, wood charcoal in powder. These are 
home remedies. You will appreciate their value if you 
have occasion to test their merits, with cases of indiges- 
tion, constipation or dysentery. With those suffering 
from constipation mix with flaxseed jell; for those affected 
with dysentery, mix the powder with roasted wheat flour; 
for the constipated bird encourage exercise; for those 
suffering with dysentery confine them in a darkened room 
with quiet surroundings, a dry, warm floor, good top ven- 
tilation. Be sure that there is no side or end draft venti- 
lation, and you should have all reasons to be hopeful for 
favorable results; it usually comes that way. Then af- 
ter convalescence feed with flaxseed jell and powdered 
charcoal, the odor will possess less strength, the room be 
more hygienic, the people and the chickens more healthful 
and happy; also sprinkle a disinfectant about the premises 
and the air will soon become more wholesome and yourself 
pleased. With new chicks you will profit by supplying 
them with new milk for the space of two or three days, 

27 




28 



then mix corn starch and powdered charcoal with the 
feed for a few days, give them a full start, and very soon 
you will realize that you have made another good record. 
Also mince mustard, horseradish, turnip, cabbage, beet, 
beggas or pepper grass tops will cause you to smile or grin, 
after you have realized the benefits which you, with so 
little effort, have been the means of profitable results; 
others have accomplished thousands in this industry, 
there is now an opportunity for you. Do not quibble at a 
small beginning, but remember that industry, economy 
and perseverance are winners; a man can build a mam- 
moth wall, but a mole can undermine it; reverse the con- 
ditions, never give up in an intelligent method, know n^ 
defeat, and within the space of a few years vnn will be 
recognized as an individual of merit. Keep your business 
confined under your jacket, do a heap of listening, allow 
the other fellow to blow the bazoo gales, but you get the 
coin. If you know enough to get it, you will know what to 
do with it, and tell your enemies and your friends if you 
have any. Don't forget the Irishman said, "Everybody 
will have their enemies, but it's a mighty mane individual 
who has no frends," "Patsy, you're right," siz I, "Patsy." 
By permission, permit me to quote from the worthy Dr. 
J. N. Navin. The feeding of fowls seems so familiar to 
everybody that any instructions on the subjects are, by 
many persons, considered superfluous. If anyone tells a 
farmer's wife that she needs instructions in the art of 
feeding chickens, she feels humiliated or even offended. 
Chickens, after being hatched, should never be disturbed 
for twenty-four hours after leaving the shell. They should 
then be taken, one by one, and their little bills dipped in 
fresh warm milk, until seen to swallow, which they will 
soon do. Each chick, as soon as observed to drink, should 
be placed onto a platform with raised edges, on which 
hard boiled eggs chopped fine and mixed with very fine 
pepper and shanish brown, equal parts, and thoroughly 
mixed with the eggs, about the size of a moderate pinch 
of snuff to four eggs. After the third day, equal quantity 
of eggs and stale bread, finely grated, may be dispensed 
with. This is more especially for valuable fowls. The 
hardier breeds will thrive and do well on grated bread and 
a little pepper; each must have a little milk or water once 

29 



or twice per day, placed within reach, supplied in shallow 
saucers or tin plates. After they are a week old, grated 
bread and Indian meal mixed and dampened with water 
and mixed with a little fine sand will do sufficient. After 
the second week crushed Indian corn will do for all hardy 
breeds; after the third week they may be let out in a lot 
to scratch and catch flies. The tender larger breeds need 
a week longer attention than the hardier kinds. 

Young chickens should be kept separate from the grown 
fowls until they are able to escape from vicious hens and 
roosters that are inclined to peck at them. Great losses 
have been sustained by vicious hens striking chickens on 
the head. 

Breeds and Varieties. 

Breeds of poultry are grand families, which have ex- 
isted as such from the time of their creation. They are 
divisions of the galinacious order of birds formed by na- 
ture or art. A variety is the result of a cross, producing 
birds which, under favorable circumstances, continue to 
produce progeny of their own kind indefinitely, but if 
such favorable circumstances are disregarded they soon 
lose their distinguishing characteristics and their original 
mixture becomes quite manifest. The case is different 
with a true breed; however illy treated it is the same 
fowl in all essential particulars though stunted and de- 
graded ever so much, the blood is still the same. 

These ideas have an important bearing, many new 
breeds, so-called, are constantly being pressed forward for 
public favor and because the specimens offered are fine 
birds and many have splendid qualities, farmers are in- 
duced to buy them and when they find it is too late they 
have no breed at all. All they have is a stock of fowls, 
different crosses of several breeds, quite likely inferior to 
those they had banished, to give room for their supposed 
new breeds. The genuine breeds extant in our country 
are not very numerous and are sufficiently marked to be 
easily distinguished from each other, but it is by no means 
so easy to distinguish a cross from the genuine breed. The 
variety has an established history for us to go to, but the 
cross has none. 

"Breeding to a feather," is a phrase much used by poul- 
try fanciers; fowls that breed to a feather are such as 

30 



present the same color or colors in their plumage without 
any variation ; we have several of those families. 

The Excrement of Poultry. 

When the people comprehend the value of this material, 
if we protect it from the storms and sunshine, as has been 
previously advised, you will realize the fact that it excels 
the imported guano or seabird excrement, which is expen- 
sive and so largely used as fertilizer throughout the civi- 
lized parts of our globe. To increase the quantity, add 
about equal quantities of charcoal and ashes and about 
five parts of finely pulverized earth, then add about one- 
eighth the quantity of air-slacked lime to the quantity of 
guano, mix as best you can, spread thinly over the fields 
or lot; you will know what you think of results. 

Capons, Female or Male. 

The operation of caponizing fowls, consists of a safe, 
easy profitable operation. It consists in removing the 
main organs of reproduction. My method: Confine the 
birds in a darkened room for about the space of twenty- 
four hours (but, Friend, perhaps you had best operate on 
a few dead birds, that you may familiarize your intellect 
with the conditions ) first carefully dissect some dead birds. 
By this means you will discover the fact that possibly you 
might post yourself on an extension of noseology. Of 
course in some things you know it all, but for this opera- 
tion you will perhaps find yourself destitute. On the 
second day, prepare strips of soft cloth or some soft rope, 
hang your victim up by the feet. I prefer a dark room, 
with a supply of artificial light; the birds will be less 
excitable. In my experience regarding age, two to three 
months is the best time for various reasons. If some of 
them show up in good shape you can detect it at that age 
and perhaps would prefer granting an extension on their 
commission. Improve your flock in all reasonable 
method; it is profitable to do so. By performing this act 
your birds will mature earlier and the flesh will excel that 
of the non-caponized birds; also they will fatten in less 
time. Their weight will please you. For those which you 
desire to market earlier we can perform the operations 
earlier in dry pleasant weather. Prepare a quantity of hot 

31 



IS 1 



water, to sterilize the knife, the needle and the silk. 
Secure the right leg forward and the left backward 
reasonably well, make the incision in the left side; make 
ample room to pass the finger; you will find three layers; 
sever the spermadic muscle remove the generative organ. 
Insert the needful amount of stitches, tie a surgeon's knot 
on each stitch. Repeat this act on each separate bird. 
Continue the confinement for three days, feed with flaxseed 
jell and soaked wheat or cracked corn and some sand. Do 
not permit pole roosts in the room during this period. 

How to prepare and use a cheap, odorless, reliable 
parasite exterminator: 

Two pounds Quassia Chips. 
Two ounches C. P. Ferri Sulphas. 
Three gallons water. 

Steep or boil down to two gallons; strain. 
Spray or sprinkle in and about the affected 
places; also can be applied on the Poultry. 

The retail price of this treatise is one dollar ($1.00). 
In case of any agent selling for more or less, you will 
kindly notify the author and receive reward. We do not 
utilize a large part of our space, explaining how valuable 
the other part is, without the usual verbose descriptions. 
Our object is to establish the fact of giving the customer 
just the desired idea in a plain, straightforward, matter- 
of-fact way, easily and quickly comprehended. 




DR. W. H. HAYES 



3633 Fremont Avenue 
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 



Lady or Gentleman Agents Wanted 



32 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 866 932 M| 



